![]() ![]() However, the value of coal mined from the Appalachians has changed with advancement in technologies, the shift from deep-mining to strip-mining, refinement of other fuel sources like natural gas, and government regulation. Many lost their way of life, finding themselves working in dangerous situations, often indentured to a coal company through debt and by being paid in industry-created money known as Scrip.Īfter many decades of bloody labor battles, coal-mining eventually became one of the better paying working class occupations in the region and the United States in general. Not unlike the Native Americans who called the mountains home, the men and women living in Coal Country found themselves being suckered or bullied out of their land by a group of outsiders. Because of this, this area was largely spared from the Coal Country's violent history over property rights, human rights and labor disputes. The area of Northeast Tennessee described by this site was not mined for coal like nearby regions to the north in Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern West Virginia. The coal industry employed immigrants from Southern Europe and African Americans to work in the mines, surmising prejudice, cultural differences, & language would prevent unionization. The nearby resources brought work and the railways brought new groups of people to Northeast Tennessee. Northeast Tennessee acted as a gateway and as a railway to nearby resources. The changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution required massive amounts of energy, energy in the form of lumber cut from these hills (and other hills), coal dug from these mountains (and from other mountains). The end of slavery in the Unites States occurred as the economy was being transformed radically by the Industrial Revolution. While these myths have taken on hyperbolic levels, there are instances of truth to the both of them. The story of isolation and the story of outsiders coming into this region in order to change the status quo usually for the worst are key myths of the area and of the Appalachians in general. Watauga Dam was one of many dams built in the region in order to bring electricity to the surrounding area, as well as mitigate flooding.Įven before the Civil War, Northeast Tennessee was reputed as being an impoverished and isolated region, a place tucked away and passed over by the nation's prosperity and cultural maturation, the Southern Appalachians were both a literary and literal barrier from the rest of the United States. Butler was the only town flooded by the TVA, an event considered a most heinous act by the long-lived great-grandmother who never forgave the Democratic Party, or President Harry Truman in particular. The creation of Watauga Lake meant the flooding of the original community of Butler, TN. His work in the CCC may have been one of the principle sparks for him going on to become a surveyor.īy late 1948, great-grandmother's family and many other families living in Butler, TN were relocated when the TVA completed construction of the Watauga Dam and created Watauga Lake. Instead of buying the bus tickets, they purchased two bicycles and biked back over the mountains to their homes.Īfter their return, grandfather joined the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) where he was stationed locally, possibly working on reforesting Cherokee National Forest, or constructing the many beautiful stone walls and picnic sites at Horse Creek, Rock Creek, the Laurels, or any of the many nearby locations the CCC worked on. They were both told they were too scrawny and subsequently sent to the bus station, given just enough money to purchase two tickets back to Greeneville, TN. Many decades ago, not long before the United States entered the Second Great War, grandfather and his buddy found themselves in Greenville, SC trying to enlist in the Army. ![]() Like the local lakes, many of the forests are less than a century old. Sometimes the timelessness of a hike can conjure an illusion the trail's setting as ancient, but in most instances the forests hiked in this region are relatively young. On a good walk the present becomes timeless and often the natural setting of a good walk takes on a feel of the eternal. A good walk on a trail has a way of putting the past and the future in their proper perspectives. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |